Is virtual reality the antidote to help depressed seniors?
Researchers in different parts of the country are looking into how VR can be prescribed to elderly patients to rehabilitate them from things like strokes, treat depression, dementia and anxiety, and serve as an escape from their hospital or hospice beds.
Lora Appel, a researcher with OpenLab at Toronto General Hospital, has been focusing her VR research efforts on seniors with dementia. Some of these patients don't get to go outside much because they like to wander — and that can be dangerous.
Her hope is to use VR as a tool to take them outdoors virtually and cut down on the wandering.
"I have no doubt this will improve quality of life," she said.
Appel's team has yet to test the technology with seniors, but she and her colleagues are well into the research phase and hope to roll out a pilot project by the end of the summer.
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It's a new concept for Canadians, but some in the U.S. have already been experimenting with VR-like experiences for seniors, like Aerial Anthropology, a Cleveland, Ohio-based film production company that specializes in flying drones for hospice patients.
The drone flights are streamed live for patients on a large screen, showing them a meaningful location of their choice — like the family home or a park they used to go to as a kid. The visuals have brought up many memories for patients and their families.
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Instead, they have some seniors try out different types of virtual reality without the headsets, like a driving simulator and a virtual reality motion-capture machine called CAREN (Computer-Assisted Rehabilitation Environment), which helps seniors with severe physical injuries learn to walk again.
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"It is a forgotten demographic and that's why we really think it is an important demographic," he said.
See the full story here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/virtual-reality-seniors-1.3950196